Faith
by formerflautist
Summary: Sequel to Tattoo. Sean looks back on his time with Emma when he is told she might be dead. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

"You were supposed to help me with this."

"I came along for support but you don't need me to help you pick out a ring. You know Emma well enough to know what she likes."

"Yeah," Sean said with a smile as he handed the clerk his credit card. "She's going to say yes, right? I mean it has been almost a year since she's been gone."

"All she talks about when I hear from her is how much she misses you. And don't tell me she doesn't send you love letters."

Sean ignored Manny's comments as his cell phone rang. "Hello? What? Have you found out anything yet? Yeah, Manny is with me. We'll be right over."

"What's going on?" Manny asked, alarmed at the look of panic on Sean's face.

"It's all over the news. A bunch of foreign aid workers have been killed in a refugee camp on the border of Eritrea."

"Emma!"

"The Simpsons don't know anything yet but we need to get over there. But Emma's fine, I know she's fine. I mean I would feel it..." Sean trailed off as he looked down at his tattoo. It was normally so in tune with Emma's emotions. But today he hadn't felt anything. His blood ran cold. He needed to get out of there fast.

"Sean! What are you doing?" Manny yelled as Sean ran out the door. Quickly grabbing the ring and the credit card from the clerk, Manny ran outside in time to see Sean retching in the bushes.

"I'll drive home," Manny said quietly as she handed Sean the ring.

Sean just nodded because he was too overwhelmed to speak.

Ten-year-old Jack answered the door and the Simpson house. "Mom and Dad are in there," he said, indicating the living room with his head.

"Sean," Spike said as Sean entered the room. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.

"What's happening?" Sean asked as he had to keep his own tears from spilling over.

"I don't know. We know there's been an attack at the camp Emma was working at but no one knows anything else. The aide worker coordinator has been in touch but he doesn't have any information yet."

"So we just wait?" Manny asked as she sat down on the couch.

"We just wait," Snake said as he came up behind Spike and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Three more days. She was coming home in three more days. People are coming into town for a welcome home party, not a funeral." Spike's voice broke on the last word. She turned to her husband and sobbed.

Sean felt his stomach clench and knew that he needed to get out of there. Spotting the basement door, he slipped quietly out of the room.

It still smelled like Emma. She'd only inhabited this room part-time since high school graduation but it still smelled like her. Sean looked around, his eyes finally settling on a photo album on the shelf. Pulling it down, he noticed there wasn't a speck of dust on the cover. Spike must have just dusted in anticipation of Emma's homecoming. Now she might never be down in this room again.

Sean wiped the tears that were streaking down his face. His hand brushed over his tattoo. He tried to ignore the fact that he hadn't felt anything from the tattoo but rather focus on the meaning. Remember to have faith, faith in himself and faith that they were going to make it.

Sean opened the photo album and laughed at the first picture. It was Emma, Manny, JT and Toby playing in a sandbox. Emma was wearing a "Save the Whales" t-shirt. It must have been about kindergarten, way before Sean knew Emma. He turned the page and found more of Emma and her friends through the years. Emma usually managed to be front and center with some project she'd enlisted her friends' help with. She'd been a precocious child, as Spike liked to say.

On the next page was a picture of their first date. Sean knew that it was without a doubt the most awkward experience of his life but they had managed survive and go out for awhile. And he'd fallen in love with her. He hadn't really understood that feeling back then. He knew he was in love but he wasn't capable of expressing those feelings.

When they were going out in ninth and Emma's life was falling apart, he loved her so much but he was feeling neglected. Instead of telling her that he loved her and that he wanted to spend time with her, he'd screwed up and pushed her away. Sean couldn't swallow his pride and go to her so they could talk things out. So they'd ended things on a sour note.

The next pages were filled with more photos. He wasn't in them. They'd gone through a long period of ignoring each other's existence. But they'd needed that time to grow and explore other things.

"Yeah, right," Sean said out loud. The time apart was time wasted.

"Have you taken to talking to yourself?"

Sean looked up to see Jimmy sitting at the top of the stairs.

"Aren't you supposed to be at law school?"

"Figured you'd need a friend but I can't get down there."

"It's okay, I'll come up." Sean closed the book and headed back up the stairs. "Have they heard anything yet?"

"No, everyone is still waiting. Caitlyn and Joey are flying in tonight. Spike and Snake are upstairs and Jack and Manny are watching a movie with Matty."

Sean followed Jimmy into the living room. He smiled as Matty leapt off the couch and hugged him.

"Sean!"

"Hey buddy!" Sean said as he picked him up.

"Watch movie with us," the little boy said as he pointed toward the screen.

"Okay," Sean agreed and took Emma's little brother over to the couch and sat him in his lap. Sean didn't look at the screen but looked at Matty instead. He flashed back to the time when Emma found out Spike was pregnant again.

_"My mom is pregnant," Emma told him as she set plates on the table for dinner._

_"What?" Sean yelled from the bathroom as he cleaned himself up after work._

_"I said my mom is pregnant again... And I might be too."_

_Seand definitely heard that but this time he was in shock. "What?"_

_"I'm late," Emma said as Sean came out of the bathroom. "Almost two weeks."_

_"Wow. Have you taken a test or been to a doctor?"_

_"I've been too afraid."_

_Sean took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay, I'm going to go down to the drugstore and pick up a test. Stay here and stay calm."_

_Sean went to the drugstore with his heart in his throat. A baby right now wouldn't be the best thing. Emma wasn't finished with school and he was still working on saving up enough money to get his own mod shop. They weren't even living together. Emma lived in the dorms at school and Sean had two roommates. It just wasn't a good time for a baby. But he knew Emma and Emma wouldn't be willing to have an abortion or give the baby up for adoption. The prospect of impending fatherhood had Sean faltering in his steps. He sat down on a bench and took deep breaths. _

_Sean had no idea how longhe sat there. At some point Emma got worried and came out looking for him._

_"Guess you didn't make it."_

_Sean looked up to see Emma's concerned face. "No, I got a litle sidetracked."_

_"This is pretty scary."_

_"Yeah. I just keep thinking about my own parents and I wonder if I'll turn out like them. I don't want to disappoint you, Em. I don't want to be that guy who freaks out and does stupid things because of an unexpected pregnancy."_

_"I'm right here, Sean. You can freak out and I can freak out and we can just freak out together. But maybe it's just a false alarm. We need to go and get a test and then decide what to do."_

_They went back to his place and Emma took two tests. Both were negative._

_"Are you okay?" Sean asked Emma as he noticed the tears running down her face._

_"I'm relieved. But maybe I'm a bit disappointed. I know we're too young and we're just not in a good place to have a baby. But I had this image of a little boy with your crazy curly hair and my brown eyes. It was a nice image."_

_"I bet it was," Sean whispered as he held Emma in his arms. "My image was of a little girl with your pretty blonde hair and my blue eyes; a real heartbreaker, just like her mother. And we're going to have that someday."_

_"Yeah," Emma snuffled, "but we're not having kids until Spinner can afford a place of his own. That man is not sleeping on my couch."_

_"Agreed," Sean said with a laugh._

That had been four years ago. Spike had Matty, Sean had been able to buy his own shop, Spinner and his other roommate had moved out, and he and Emma were going to be moving into together. When she got back from Africa.

Sean sighed as he looked down at the now sleeping Matty. He had to keep reminding himself of that: when Emma got back from Africa.

The phone rang, jarring the otherwise quiet house.

Sean waited anxiously. The phone had stopped ringing so they must have answered it upstairs. His hands hurt. Why did his hands hurt? Sean looked down to realize that he'd been clenching his hands so hard that his knuckles were white.

Snake came down from upstairs. His face was ashen.

Sean tried to speak but he couldn't. He didn't want to know if Emma was dead. If Snake was going to say that Emma was dead then Sean would rather he not speak at all.

"Fifty aid workers were killed," Snake choked out. "Another twenty were seriously injured. Right now they're trying to sort who's who. The attack came at night when most people were sleeping so there wasn't time to get away. They're going to let us know when they find Emma."

"What aren't you saying?" Manny asked.

"We're to be prepared for the worst. There was a woman matching Emma's description among the dead."

"No!" Sean shouted. "They're lying! Emma is not dead!"

"I'm not saying she is, Sean, but we need to be prepared for the worst."

"You be prepared for the worst! I'm going to believe that Emma is going to walk through those doors in three days!" Sean yelled before storming through the front door and into the fading light of the evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Sean ended up at Degrassi. It was where he first met Emma. He'd noticed her right off, which wasn't hard considering that she stood taller than all of the girls and a lot of the guys. Emma was the first person he trusted outside of his brother. It was hard for Sean to trust people. His homelife wasn't the greatest. His parents were alcoholics and they cared more about their next drink than they did about him. But Emma had shown him a world where people loved each other, trusted each other, and he liked being a part of that world.

Sean walked around to the side of the building where the gymnasium stood. The site of their senior prom. It was the night that changed everything for them.

_"Would you look at that dress that Mia is wearing: slut-o-rama." Manny said to Emma as they entered the gym._

_"Be nice, Manny. Besides, it's not like you're going to have to see these people again after we graduate." Emma admonished._

_"All the more reason to not waste my breath being nice. Now where'd my date go?" Manny questioned as she wandered off._

_Emma looked over at Sean, who was busy tugging on the collar of his tuxedo shirt. __"I told you that you didn't have to wear that."_

_Sean looked over at Emma guiltily. "I know. But it's prom and I want tonight to be perfect. Oh wow, that sounded so cliche. Okay, the truth is that I have a secret longing to be a penguin."_

_"You're quite the handsome penguin. Wanna dance?"_

_"No," Sean said with a grin as he let Emma lead him out onto the dance floor._

_Then after the dance there was the motel room. Again, a big cliche. But that was prom: one big happy cliche._

_The first time with Emma was nerve-racking. Sean wasn't a virgin. He wasn't full of experience, either. Emma was the one who should have been nervous because she was a virgin. But Emma was too practical to let something like that bother her._

_"You do realize that I'm over here, right?" Emma asked from the top of the bed._

_"Yeah, of course. We, uh, we just need some ice," Sean said as he jumped up and grabbed the ice bucket._

_"If you walk out that door then you're not getting back in. Talk to me and tell me why you're so nervous."_

_Sean sat back down on the bed beside Emma and grabbed her hands. "I don't want to hurt you."_

_"Sean, I know that sex isn't going to be very comfortable the first time. It's okay, I trust you."_

_"It's not that. I mean, it is but it's more than that. This is a big step for us and I don't want to mess things up. And I don't want you to regret this somewhere down the line. Sometimes I feel like I'm an emotional black hole and everyone around me gets sucked in and never escapes. I don't want that to happen to you. If we have sex tonight then maybe you'll be the next victim."_

_"Sean, you've come such a long way from where you were. We've come such a long way. We can talk to each other now. You know, like we're doing right now. And you're not that angry boy with the kind heart I met all those years ago. You've turned into a young man with a kind heart who left that anger behind. I want us to make love because I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone. I know that whatever the future brings I will never look back on this night with anything other than love and joy."_

_"Thank you," Sean whispered, "for always believing in me."_

Sean felt his cheeks getting damp and realized he'd been crying again. It had been such a great night. It was the first time they'd made love but, more importantly, the first time he really believed in himself. Emma had given him that gift. She'd given him so much. Everything that was inside of him was because of her. If she was dead then everything inside of him would be dead.


	3. Chapter 3

"You really need to answer your cell phone."

Sean jumped up, startled by the sound of Spinner's voice. "Is something wrong? Did they find out about Emma?"

"No, I tried calling you but you weren't answering. So I called Jimmy and he said you ran out. I volunteered to look for you. Of course me, being your ex-roommate and all-around genius, knew exactly where you'd be."

"Give the man a cookie, he knows Sean Cameron so well," Sean said sarcastically as he sat back down on the bench.

"I know you're hurting so I'm going to forgive you for being a jerk," Spinner said as he sat down beside Sean. "When's the last time you were in there?" He asked, indicating the school.

"Graduation."

"Now that was a great day."

"Yeah, it was the best."

_"The tassel goes on the left, Sean."_

_"I think it goes on the right."_

_"Look around, everyone has theirs on the left."_

_"Let's get another opinion. Hey, Spin," Sean called out to Spinner, "which side does the tassel go on?"_

_"How the hell should I know? Everyone else has it on the left so that's where mine's going, too."_

_"You're no help. We need a third opinion."_

_"Sean!"_

_"Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you get flustered?"_

_"And that's my cue to leave," Spinner said as he quickly walked away._

_"I should know better by now," Emma said as she leaned in for a quick kiss. "I have a surprise for you."_

_"Emma, we're getting ready to graduate, I don't think now's the time for that." Sean said with a grin as he leaned in for another kiss._

_"Sean!"_

_"I'm sorry. But you're looking really cute again."_

_"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I've decided to go to York University."_

_"You're going to stay in Toronto? Emma, are you sure? I don't want you staying just because of me."_

_"Hey, I love you but I'm not just staying for you. My family is here, my support group is here, my life is here. College is stressful and I'm a little worried about my eating disorder rearing it's ugly head. Besides, I'm still going to live in the dorms and meet a ton of new people so it's not like I'm missing out by not going farther away. And as a bonus I'll have you nearby."_

_"Okay, I like the sound of that."_

_"Alright students, time to get in line," Ms. Hatzilakos yelled._

_"Are we ready for this?" Sean asked Emma._

_"Most definitely," she said with a wink and a smile._

"And then that party afterwards, that was awesome."

"Spin, you got so drunk that you tried to kiss JT because you thought he was Paige."

"Yeah, that was funny. And as I recall you and Emma disappeared pretty early that night."

"Spin-" Sean said with a warning in his voice.

"What? I'm not saying anything bad. She actually had a lot of patience with us and our ever-rotating third roommate. Remember the time..."

_"Happy Halloween," Emma said as Sean opened the door. "I brought you a present."_

_"What is that?" Sean asked as Emma brought a package out from behind her back._

_"It's fake spider web. It's enough to decorate your whole bedroom ceiling."_

_"And we would want to do that why?"_

_"I thought we'd start a new Halloween tradition. You see, everytime we're standing under the spider web we have to kiss."_

_"I like that idea. I'm just sad that you didn't bring more. But before we get started, I have some news. Guess who's living here now."_

_"Wasn't it a guy from work?"_

_"No, his wife took him back."_

_"Well, that's good, I guess."_

_"Yeah, but anyway, Marco came by yesterday. He and Dylan have been having some problems so he's going to stay with us for awhile."_

_"Wow, that's great. I mean that sucks for the two of them but I know Spinner will be happy."_

_"Yeah, they're out celebrating Halloween. That means we have the whole place to ourselves."_

_"Well then I guess we shouldn't waste time," Emma said as she threw the spider web package on the ground and dragged Sean back to his bedroom._

_"Shh," Marco whispered to Spinner as he unlocked the door to the apartment._

_"He did the mash, he did the monter mash. It was a graveyard smash, he did the mash..."_

_"You've been singing those same lyrics the whole way home."_

_"They're the only ones I know. Hey, let's go wake up Sean!"_

_"It's two a.m., he's probably asleep."_

_"Yeah, but he doesn't have to work tomorrow so it's no big deal. Besides, we still have two bottles of silly string left."_

_"Good point. Let's do it."_

_"On the count of three. One... Two... Three!"_

_Spinner and Marco raced down the hall and into Sean's room._

_"What the hell?" Sean yelled as he was sprayed with silly string._

_"Happy Halloween!" Spinner and Marco yelled as they jumped on the bed._

_"Oh my gosh! Someone turn on the light!"_

_The room turned deathly silent._

_"Was that Emma?" Marco asked._

_"Yeah," she replied._

_"Oh damn," Marco said as he jumped off the bed and turned on the light. "Double damn," he said when he saw the site before him. Sean and Emma looked to be in a state of being not fully clothed. And they were covered in silly string._

_"I'm so sorry."_

_"Me too," Spin said as he climbed down from the bed. "We were just trying to surprise Sean. We didn't mean to interrupt anything."_

_"We were sleeping, dillhole." Sean said as he sat up._

_"Right, we're, we're, uh..."_

_"Sorry," Marco interjected. "And a little drunk. Well, more than a little drunk. But we didn't mean any harm."_

_"It's okay," Emma said. "Now could you guys leave so that we can clean this up."_

_"No, we'll clean it up," Marco said as he began pulling silly string off the bed._

_"We will?"_

_"No, it's okay," Emma said. "This is your get out of jail free card. Next time I won't be so nice."_

"We never did anything like that again."

"Because you knew that if you did she would kill you."

"Yeah... Do you think you're ready to go back?"

"I can't go back there. I'm afraid that if I go back there then the phone will ring and it'll be someone saying she's dead. I can't handle that. If she's dead then I have nothing left. I am nothing without her."

"Man, will you listen to yourself. Have you learned nothing from Emma? She never thought like that. She never thought about you like that. I know it for a fact."

_"Today's the big day," Spinner said to Emma as he grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. "Where's Sean?"_

_"He's already at the shop getting ready for the opening. I'm supposed to wait here for you to make sure you get there on time."_

_"You know he's just really nervous and doesn't want you to see it. He wants to make you proud."_

_"I know."_

_"He's giving you all the credit for finally getting the mod shop up and started. He really couldn't have done it without you."_

_"Oh no, I'm not taking credit for this. Sean did it on his own."_

_"But you believed in him enough to make him want to do it."_

_"Sean would have done it even if I hadn't been here. He's so determined to make a life for himself. He refused to wallow in all the bad stuff that happened to him and instead chose to be something more. I wanted that for him but I didn't force it on him. He's always been able to survive on his own; he did it for a long time. He has so much strength, he just doesn't realize it. I've just been lucky enough to go along for the ride."_

"Why didn't she say that to me?"

"Would you have believed her?"

"Probably not."

"Emma wouldn't want you hiding from this. You're strong enough to face this head on, no matter what happens.

Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate you reading my story. I'm supposed to be on vacation but ideas keep popping up in my head. I don't have spell check on my home computer so I'm sorry if there are mistakes that I didn't catch.


	4. Chapter 4

Sean and Spinner slowly made their way back to Emma's house. He knew that Spinner was right, Emma wouldn't want him to be acting like this: angry and pushing people away. He was better than that. Whatever happened he would be strong and he would survive. That's what Emma would want.

"I've got to head back home," Spinner said when the reached Emma's house. "Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks, Spin."

Sean was greeted by quiet whispers when he walked in the door. Joey and Caitlyn had arrived and were sitting with Snake on the couch. Jimmy and Manny were talking quietly in a corner. Spike and the boys were nowhere to be seen.

"Have you heard anything?" Sean asked.

"Nothing yet. The situation over there is still pretty dangerous so communication is a problem." Snake replied.

"Right. Uh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah."

"Joey and Caitlyn, please. And Craig wanted me to tell you that he's thinking about you and he's trying to get back." Joey said.

"Well, a nationwide tour can be hard to get out of. What's that?" Sean asked, noticing a picture in Joey's hand.

"Oh, this is just a picture of you, Emma and Craig. I ran across it a few days ago. I was planning on bringing it to the party."

"May I?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Joey said and handed Sean the picture. "You guys look so young there."

"Yeah," Sean said with a smile before withdrawing to sit on the stairs.

The picture was taken shortly after Craig moved in with Joey. Joey, Spike and Snake had taken them to the beach that day.

_"Get in the water, Em."_

_"No!"_

_"Get in the water!"_

_"Are you kidding? You do realize it's freezing out there?"_

_"It's fine when you get used to it."_

_"You and Craig can go ahead, I'll just read my book."_

_"Hey Craig!"_

_"What's up, Sean?" Craig asked as he ran over from where he was playing frisbee with the parents._

_"Emma doesn't want to get in the water because she thinks it's too cold."_

_"So maybe she needs some persuasion."_

_"What are you going to do?" Emma asked with fear in her voice._

_Sean looked over at Craig with an evil grin before clamping his hands on her feet. Craig quickly grabbed her arms and they hauled her to the water, Emma screaming the whole way, and dropped her in the surf._

_"You horrible boys!" Emma shouted as she came out of the water._

_"Emma, we're so sorry," Craig said with an innocent smile, "but you should have fought harder to get away._

_"I just want to say that it was all Craig's idea," Sean said as he came up next to Craig._

_"No it wasn't. But this was," Craig said and then grabbed Sean around the waist and threw him into the water._

_Emma left the boys fighting in the water to go and build a sand castle. It was her tradition, whenever she came to the beach she had to build a sand castle._

_"Need some help?"_

_Emma looked up to see Sean and Craig, both dripping wet, standing over her._

_"We promise we'll be good," Craig said and stuck his bottom lip out like a puppy dog._

_"Okay, but I'm the queen and you have to listen to me." Emma said with a smile._

_"Every queen needs a king," Craig said. "But I think that Sean wants that duty."_

It was at that moment that Spike had taken the picture that Sean was holding. Everyone thought that he and Emma had sunburn due to the red flush on both of their faces. But in actuality it was a blush that had spread due to Craig's words.

"Even back then you couldn't take your eyes off of her."

"What?" Sean asked as he looked up at Joey.

"You had an eye for Emma even back then."

"Yeah, well she always had a way of drawing my attention. She still does."

"That's how I felt about my first wife. And it's how I feel about Caitlyn. If you find someone that does that to you then you don't let that person go."

"Your first wife died. How did you deal with that?"

"I thought my world was over. I couldn't even get out of bed after she died."

"But you had Angela."

"Sometimes the pain takes hold of you and won't let go. It didn't matter that Angela needed me, I needed time to myself. I know that everyone is probably telling you what Emma would want you to be doing right now: be strong and face things. And you'll need to at some point. But maybe what you really need right now is time to process everything. You can be strong later."

A knock sounded on the door. Snake jumped up to answer it. He was surprised at the person standing on the other side. "Craig, I didn't think you'd make it."

"I had to be here."

"Come in."

"Thanks." Craig stepped inside and saw Sean standing at the bottom of the steps

"Hey." Sean said as he stepped closer to Craig.

"I..." Speechless, Craig did the only thing he could: grab Sean and hug him like his life depended on it. And Sean finally did something he'd needed to do all day: break down into body-racking sobs.


	5. Chapter 5

Sean sobbed in Craig's arms until his legs failed to hold him up any longer. When that happened he slid to the floor. His body was shaking but the harsh sobs that had come out of his mouth earlier were replaced by gasping breaths. Craig sat with him, silently rubbing his back. The other people in the room left the two of them alone.

"I'm sorry," Sean whispered in a harsh voice, his face hidden from view. "I didn't mean to lose it like that."

"It's okay. Sometimes we just need to let it all out. Can I get you water or anything?"

"No," Sean said as he lifted his head. His face was blotchy and his eyes were swollen. "I'm just going to go upstairs and use the restroom. I'll be back down in a few minutes." Sean dashed up the stairs before Craig could reply.

Sean quietly entered the bathroom and closed the door before turning on the light. Spike and the boys were up here and he didn't want to disturb them.

"Nice look, Cameron," Sean said to himself as he looked in the mirror. His crying jag had left his face a mess. Wetting a rag, he noticed his hands were shaking. He was going to lose it again. Taking deep breaths, he sat down on the toilet seat and tried to control his emotions.

"Sean are you in there? Are you okay?" Spike called out from the other side of the door.

"F-fine, Spike. I'm fine," Sean called back but even he didn't believe his answer.

"Sean, I'm coming in."

"No, it's okay," Sean tried to call out but Spike had opened the door before he even got a chance.

"You look worse than I do," Spike said with a small grin as she looked at Sean. "Can you come with me?"

"Sure," Sean said and then rose on his still shaking legs and followed Spike down to her bedroom.

"I keep looking at this picture," Spike said, handing him a framed photograph. "That's the two of us a few days after she was born. She was premature and she was hooked up to all these machines. I had no idea if she was going to live. But she pulled through. I was only fourteen and I wasn't ready to be a mother but there she was, a helpless little baby who needed me. And I did my best. I wanted my daughter to be strong and indepedent and fearless and that's what she is. I thought I was doing the right thing. But what if what I taught her has been the death of her? Maybe I taught her to be too indepedent and that's why she went to Africa."

"She didn't go to Africa because of you."

"What are you talking about, Sean?"

"She went to Africa because of me. It's all my fault that Emma might be dead."

**Sorry to leave it like that. Thanks for all the reviews. YellinYee pointed out that the kids didn't know Toby until junior high and that Caitlyn is really spelled Caitlin. Whoops. Please forgive me, sometimes I get fuzzy on details. **


	6. Chapter 6

"What are you talking about, Sean? What do you mean it's your fault? Emma makes her own decisions and you are not responsible for her going to Africa."

"I can't talk about this now." Sean left the room and raced downstairs. He was just about ready to open the door when Craig stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go back to my place for awhile."

"Do you want some company?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Is my room still the same way I left it?" Craig asked as they entered the apartment.

Sean rolled his eyes. "You stayed here for two weeks two years ago."

"Yeah, but I'm Craig Manning. You could have sold my sheets on e-bay and gotten a lot of money." Craig said with a grin as he sat down on the couch.

"We had to burn them instead," Sean said as he tossed his keys on the counter and joined Craig on the couch. "All those groupies probably gave you scabies."

"I make no apologies, it's the life of a rock star."

"So it doesn't matter that you had a girl here waiting for you?"

"I'm sorry, wasn't it you who left for Wasaga leaving both Ellie and Emma in limbo?"

"Do you really want to talk about this?"

"Not really."

"Do you want something to drink?" Sean asked as he stood and went to the kitchen.

"A beer would be great," Craig replied as he looked around the room. There was a hell of a lot of candles around. "Dude, why the hell do you have so many candles?"

"Here you go," Sean said as he came back in with Craig's beer. "The candles are Emma's."

"She brought over a ton of candles and forced you to put them out?"

"Not exactly."

_It was their weekly dinner. Emma had shown up covered in snow, her cheeks rosy red and her eyes bright with excitement. She still loved the snow as much as she did when she was a kid._

"_I brought you a present." She said as she took a small package from her coat pocket._

"_Really? I liked that present you got me for Halloween," Sean said as he leaned in for a kiss._

"_It's a candle."_

"_A candle?" Sean asked with his eyebrows raised. "Why did you buy me a candle?"_

"_It's vanilla, like my shampoo. I thought it would be nice to have so you could light it when I'm not around."_

"_But I'm a guy, I don't do candles."_

"_You can keep it in your bedroom where no one will know."_

He'd kept that candle in his bedroom and he would light it when Emma wasn't around. But he hated that candle because it didn't smell exactly like her. Over the past year he'd collected more and more vanilla candles in hopes that he would find one that would replicate Emma's special smell. But none of them did, none of them ever could.

**Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing. Sorry that you didn't get the resolution you'd hoped for but I didn't feel like it was time for Sean to spill his guts just yet. But I did give you a little fluff. Please don't hate me.**


	7. Chapter 7

Sean and Craig were sitting in silence. But it was a loaded silence. Both had things they wanted to say but couldn't seem to be able to get the words out. The once best friends had been reduced to two men who couldn't seem to get past the most basic questions about each other's lives.

"So, uh, can I ask you something?" Craig questioned, breaking the silence.

"Depends on what it is." Sean replied, taking a sip of the soda that had long since gone warm in his hand.

"Why did you have to leave Emma's house so fast? One minute you were upstairs and the next minute you were running out of there like your life depended on it."

Sean took a deep breath and rubbed his head as though it pained him to even think. "I was talking to Spike upstairs."

"And Spike is the big bad wolf?

"No," Sean said with a small smile, "she was talking about Emma."

"And that made you run away?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Damn it, Craig, I don't want to talk about this!" Sean shouted and jumped off the couch. "Who the hell are you to come back here and ask me all these questions? You left Toronto! I hear from you maybe once a month if I'm lucky and now you're back acting like my best friend! Where do you get off?"

"I know things have changed and I'm sorry I've been a crappy friend!" Craig yelled back. "But I'm here now! Whatever is inside of you needs to come out! I've known you long enough to know that something is eating you alive. If you're not going to tell me then tell someone else but you can't let it fester! Now's the time to stop being a stoic asshole and just be honest!"

"You're the asshole," Sean said without menace as he sat down. Craig's words were sinking in.

"Yeah, but I already knew that." Craig said as he sat down beside Sean. "Can you tell me what happened with Spike?"

"She showed me a picture of her and Emma after Emma was born. And then she told me about how hard it was to be a mother so young but she'd tried to raise Emma to be strong. Spike thought that she was the reason Emma went to Africa. But I had to tell her the truth."

"What's the truth?"

"I'm the reason she went."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"It's true. I acted like a jerk and I pushed her away. And she left. I didn't even get to tell her goodbye."

"_So I've been thinking about this Africa thing."_

"_Hmm, what?" Sean asked as he looked up from the paperwork scattered across his desk. He'd opened his mod shop last month and things were going well. But it meant that he was always working. Even when he was at home he was working._

"_Remember I told you a couple of months ago about this great opportunity for me to be an aid worker at one of the refugee camps in Africa?"_

"_Umm, vaguely." Sean replied as he looked back down at his desk._

_"Well, the coordinator got in contact with me again today. They really need workers in a refugee camp in Eritrea."_

_"I don't understand." Sean said, his attention focused back on Emma. "You're going to have a degree in elementary education so how does that lead to working in a refugee camp?"_

_"People can stay at these camps for months or even years so they need teachers. I'll also be helping to coordinate people to do chores around the camp and various other tasks as needed."_

_"Okay. But what about the language barrier?"_

_"Thanks to colonization most people speak English or French."_

_"So how long is this sojourn to Africa going to last?"_

_"Um, a year." Emma mumbled._

_"What?"_

_"A year." Emma said in a clear voice._

_"A year? Are you joking?" Sean asked incredulously._

_"No. It's very hard to get volunteers so if I agree to go then it has to be for a year."_

_"You're going to leave everything behind so that you can go and work in Africa for a year? Why?"_

_"It's something I want to do. You watch the news. You've seen those people. They've been chased out of their homes and they have nothing. They need help."_

_"And Saint Emma is to the rescue." Sean said, rising from his seat behind the desk._

_"Did you seriously just say that to me?" Emma asked angrily. _

_"Yeah, I did." Sean replied, just as angry. "Why do you always have to solve everyone else's problems?"_

_"I don't always have to solve everyone else's problems!"_

_"Yes, you do! Any cause and you're sure to take it up!"_

_"When people can't speak for themselves then they need a champion. So sue me if I like being that person."_

_"You just like knowing that everyone thinks that you're so wonderful! Emma Nelson, the next Mother Theresa!"_

_"Why are you being so cruel?"_

_"Because I'd just like to be the one you focused on for once! You're almost finished with school, don't you think it's time we thought about the next step in our relationship?"_

_"Next step?"_

_"You know, marriage, family, a house and a dog."_

_"I want those things too. But we're still really young."_

_"Is going to Africa just an easy way of breaking up with me without breaking up with me?"_

_"What? I don't want to break up with you!"_

_"You say that now but what are you going to say in a year?"_

_"That I love you, that you're the only guy I've ever loved and I want to be with you forever."_

_"Then be with me forever! Stay here!"_

_"I have to do this!"_

_"If I mean that little to you then I guess you should go. I can't say that I'll be waiting for you when you get back."_

_"Sean!"_

_"I've got a lot of work to do so you should go." Sean said as he sat back down at his desk. "You know your way out."_

_"I love you," Emma said tearfully as she opened the door._

_"I know you do," Sean replied, "but just not not enough."_

"I didn't go to see her at the airport. I didn't take her calls or listen to her messages. I ignored her. I just keep thinking that if I'd bent just a little bit that I could have stopped her from going. Now she might be dead. So now you know, Craig. Can you honestly tell me that it's not my fault?"

**So now everyone knows why Sean thinks it's his fault. I think you've all be wanting to find this out for awhile. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. You guys are really too kind.**


	8. Chapter 8

"No, I don't think it's your fault." Craig said quietly. "I know you when it comes to Emma. You freak out when you think you might lose her. Instead of being honest you push her away because it makes it easier for you. Emma knows that, she's know that for years and she still loves you. Your words had nothing to do with her going to Africa. Going over there and helping was something that Emma needed to do. But I know she loves you and I know she would be the last person to blame you if anything did happen."

"I know. She wrote me letters," Sean said. He opened a box that sat on the coffee table. In it was a stack of letters. "I got at least one a week, sometimes more but never less. I didn't want her to write me letters because that made missing her so much worse. I only wrote her on Christmas and her birthday. She just kept writing even when I didn't respond. The latest one came only yesterday."

_Dear Sean,_

_It's been almost a year since I came here. I'm going to be leaving soon and I'm feeling very reflective on my time here. And I guess on my life in general. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I saw the news reports and I read all the literature but nothing prepared me for life in a refugee camp. These people have seen so much and been through so much. Many suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder so they're easily startled, or they don't eat, or they get angry easily. It's been so hard seeing the children who have been orphaned because of the violence. The older children have haunted eyes. I worry about what's going to happen to them because they've been forced to grow up so fast. _

_I've seen such a dark side to human nature. The horrible injuries that people come in here with I don't think I'll ever forget. Rebel forces rarely fight with guns but rather with machetes and knives. I don't understand how so much cruelty can exist. Most of these people are farmers. They never wanted anything to do with any war, they just wanted to provide for their family. What is the crime in that? _

_My job has been so difficult. A refugee camp has a steady stream of people coming and going. So many days I couldn't teach because I had to help organize shelter for a new batch of refugees. And if there had been an outbreak of fighting then many times I would be standing beside a camp doctor handing him instruments as he tried to heal a wounded refugee. So many times I had to watch people die because there weren't enough doctors to treat all the patients. We all the did the best we could and I know we saved a lot of people but sometimes I feel like it wasn't enough. But then I think about the days that I do teach. The children just seem so happy to be in school again. I don't know if it it's a love of learning or just being able to escape from their lives for a few hours but I know they are happy. They really love music. You know I can't sing at all but I've managed to teach them several songs with dance moves. I've even taught them a couple of Craig's songs._

_What amazes me most about these people is even with everything they've been through they still manage to get up and face the day. They make the best of what they have. Ultimately this camp is like a family, albeit a very large family. People look out for each other and they take care of each other and they love each other. I went halfway across the world to discover something I should have known all along: family is the most important thing. But family doesn't just have to be the people that I'm related to. Manny is my family. Craig, Anglea, Joey, and Caitlin are my family. Spinner and Jimmy are my family. YOU'RE my family. You're the most important person in my family. I know my decision to come here hurt you so much but never doubt that I've loved you every second that I've been gone. Now I'm just counting the days until I can come back to Toronto and to you. I keep thinking about our future and I'm ready for that house, those kids, and even that dog. I'm just hoping that you still feel the same way. _

_Love always,_

_Your Emma_

Sean stared at the letter in his hand. It was already well-worn because he'd read it countless times since it's arrival. Emma finally said what he needed to hear. She truly wanted a future with him. He'd been so excited that he'd enlisted Manny's help in going out to buy an engagement ring the moment she came into town. He'd started thinking of ways to propose. Should he do it at the airport? Should he make a romantic dinner? Just pop the question as soon as they got a moment alone? Sean should have known something bad was going to happen. It was too much to hope that things would go smoothly.

"I bought an engagement ring." Sean said, looking up from the letter. "She still loves me and she still wants to be with me so I bought one. Damn it!" Sean yelled and stood up. "She deserves to have a future! I can't survive without her and I know that! But she is so much stronger and I know she'll survive without me! I just want to switch places with her! I don't know if there is God but if there is then he'll take my life for hers!"

"Sean-" Craig said and stood and put his hand on Sean's shoulder.

"My life for hers." Sean whispered before sinking to floor and crying.

Craig stood and watched his friend, helpless to do anything but stand there and listen to his friend cry.

"Something's happening." Sean gasped suddenly.

"What?" Craig asked. "What's happening where?"

"My tattoo, I'm feeling something."

"What do you mean?"

"I got a tattoo on my chest a long time ago. I know it sounds crazy but I can feel Emma's emotions through it. I haven't felt anything in awhile but now I am."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that she's still alive. Emma is still alive!"

**Thanks again for all the reviews. Finally, an answer to the question people keep asking. But it's not a resolution because there is still more to the story.**


	9. Chapter 9

Sean paced the living room of Emma's house. He'd dragged Craig back over there after his tattoo had come back to life and now they were just waiting. It was the middle of the night. Emma's family was upstairs, supposedly sleeping but Sean doubted it. Caitlin and Joey went to a nearby hotel. Manny was downstairs, having been forced by Spike to get some needed rest. Jimmy had left for his parents' place with the promise he'd be back in the morning. So that left Sean and Craig to do the waiting and the worrying.

"Dude, Spike will kill you if you wear a path in her floor." Craig said as he watched Sean pace from one end of the small room to the other.

"Spike will understand. Why isn't anyone calling?"

"Uh," Craig said, raising his hands in a questioning gesture.

"I know something is happening, I can feel it."

"I believe you," Craig said calmly, "but you need to relax. You know it's not the greatest situation over there right now. Maybe there are problems with communication. Can you just please stop pacing?"

"No," Sean said and then changed his mind and sat down beside Craig.

"Thanks. Now, do you want to watch some TV or play video games?"

"Do you ever wonder what kind of father you're going to be? Sean asked.

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. I guess it's because now that I know she's alive I can see my future with Emma again. I think about us having kids and I wonder how I'll be as a parent. I mean I know my parents are alcoholics and generally neglectful. But then there's my brother and he also raised me. He's a good guy and he really worked hard to raise me. And then there are Jimmy's parents who became my parents. They're good people, although a little over-bearing. All those parents in my life, I just wonder whose example I'm going to follow."

"I don't know, man. I mean my mom died when I was young and my dad beat me. But then there's Joey. I'm the kid of his dead wife and he took me in when I had nowhere else to go. But my dad wasn't all bad, he just didn't know how to be a father. He was really smart and a hard-worker. I think I'd want to take all of their best qualities and morph into Super Dad."

"That's a good idea. Joey is a good guy. Snake has been a good father. Emma's not his kid but he treats her as his own. He's always here for all of kids and he's patient. I just don't know if I can be like that."

"Are you kidding? Emma thinks you're going to be a great parent, probably even better than she'll be."

"What are you talking about?"

"The last Christmas I was home I came over to your place while you were decorating the tree. You and Emma were babysitting Jack and Matty. Do you remember?"

"_Sean, babies do not eat Christmas cookies," Emma scolded as she walked into the kitchen and spied Sean trying to feed nine-month-old Matty a cookie._

"_He has teeth, why not?" Sean asked._

"_But he's still only eating soft foods."_

"_Fine," Sean sighed and then grabbed the jar of food that Spike had set out for Matty's lunch. "But I'm not going to be blamed if he grows up hating us all for making him eat pureed pork and beans."_

"_Don't worry, we'll all tell him that you disagreed with his diet, okay? Now hurry up and feed him so that we can decorate the tree."_

"_Umm, Emma," Craig called from the living room, "I need your help."_

"_What's wrong?" Emma asked as she came into the living room. "Oh, I see." Craig's job was to untangle the Christmas tree lights. Somehow in the two minutes that Emma had been in the kitchen Craig had managed to get them tangled around him._

"_Could you please get these off of me?"_

"_How did you do this?" Emma asked as she fought hard not to laugh._

"_Me? I didn't do this! Find your little monster and you'll find the culprit!" _

_Just then the lights that surrounded Craig blinked on and began racing around Craig._

"_Craig's a Christmas tree!" Jack shouted from his hding spot under the coffee table._

"_Jack Simpson, you come out here right now!" Emma said sternly._

_Jack came out looking shame-faced. "Sorry."_

"_Say you're sorry to Craig."_

"_Sorry Craig."_

"_Okay, now go into the kitchen and tell Sean what you did."_

"_Why did you send him to Sean," Craig asked as Jack shuffled to the kitchen._

"_Because Sean is really good with him. I don't know, I guess it's like they speak the same language. Maybe it's because they're both boys. Do you want untangled?"_

"_Yes please. And Sean is also in there feeding Matty. Are you trying to prepare Sean for fatherhood?" Craig asked, his eyebrows raised in a questioning look._

"_Yes, that's my evil plan. I'm going to make Sean fall in love with my brothers in hopes that he'll want to have lots of children very soon." Emma said sarcastically. "Come on, they're my brothers, he should have a good relationship with them."_

"_Fair enough. But don't tell me it doesn't make you think about the future."_

"_It does. But I'm always thinking about the future. I do see us having kids someday. But it's weird."_

"_What's weird?"_

"_It's like I always saw myself as this super parent. I would raise my kids to be wonderful, thoughtful, and conscientious people. They would be the ones who would save the world thanks to my tutelage. But when I see Sean with my brothers I can't help but think that he's going to be the better parent."_

"_Seriously?"_

"_Totally." Emma said as she yanked on a cord._

_"Ow!" Craig whined as Emma's yanking tightened the lights around his chest._

_"Be quiet, String Bean," Emma commanded. "Anyway, Sean's just going to want our kids to be happy. Day in and day out that is going to be his goal. Being happy is something that's so simple and yet it can be so hard to achieve."_

"_That's so deep, Emma." Craig said as he worked to loosen the cords that were cutting off his breathing._

"You two seem to better things in each other than you do in yourselves," Craig said as Sean turned to look at him. "But you also seem to fit together. People always see you as opposites but I never saw you two like that. You're both very loyal. Deep down you really care about your friends and family. And when you get hurt you both lash out. Emma might not do it in quite the same way as you, but she still does it. Emma likes to try and save the world, you work more on more of an individual basis. It still comes from the same need to help people. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think you're both going to be great parents."

"Okay, thanks Craig," Sean said, patting Craig on the shoulder and standing up. "I'm not really sure why you had to go through that entire speech but I appreciate it. Listen, I know you're tired so why do I turn off the lights and you can crash."

"What about you?"

"I'm not tired."

"Sean-"

"Go to sleep."

Craig didn't wait for Sean to rescind his offer. He quickly made himself comfortable on the small couch.

Sean listened to Craig's rather loud snoring as he sat staring out into the darkness. He was remembering that same Christmas.

"_The boys had a lot of fun today," Emma said as she snuggled closer to Sean on the couch."_

"_Yeah, I did too." Sean said as he ran his fingers through Emma's long hair._

"_The tree is so pretty," Emma said as she tried to stifle a yawn._

"_Yeah," Sean agreed. He smiled when he realized Emma had fallen asleep. The living room was completely dark except for the muted light of the Christmas tree. The white lights had cast a glow over Emma, making her look like an angel. Sean knew in that moment that the only thing he truly wanted was a lifetime of Emma falling asleep in his arms._

The ringing of the phone startled Sean out of his reverie. He knew, _he just knew_, this was the phone call they'd all been waiting for.


	10. Chapter 10

Sean waited anxiously. The phone had stopped ringing and now he was just waiting for confirmation of what he already knew. Emma was alive, but he needed someone to say the words.

"What's happening?" Craig asked groggily, the phone waking him from his slumber.

Sean didn't answer but instead looked towards the stairs where Snake was descending.

"Was it Emma?" Sean questioned.

Snake took a deep breath and his eyes filled with tears. A sense of dread overtook Sean.

"Don't you dare say she's dead," Sean warned, "because I know she's not."

"She's not dead, Sean. Spike talked to her, she's alive." Snake sank down on the steps and covered his face with his hands and began to cry. He couldn't begin to vocalize the relief and joy he felt. Biologically he wasn't Emma's father but the love he felt for her in his heart told him that she was his daughter.

Sean was at a loss as to what to do. It was strange to see Snake cry. His own dad never showed any emotion other than anger. Not wanting to stare, Sean made his way back into the living room and sat beside Craig.

"Emma's alive?" Craig asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"She was in an accident," Snake answered as he rose from the stairs and made his way into the living room. "She and some other workers went into the city to get supplies. They were on their way back when they got into an accident. Emma has a concussion and some internal injuries from hitting the dashboard. They had to remove her spleen but she's going to be fine. They're going to wait forty-eight hours to give her time to heal and then she's coming home."

"But what about the attack on the camp?" Craig questioned.

"It was a separate incident that occured at some point while they were getting supplies. Emma was lucky that she wasn't there."

Craig looked at Sean. He'd been strangely silent since Snake's announcement. "Are you okay?"

"Emma's alive," Sean said slowly.

"Yes, she's alive. You said you already knew that." Craig replied.

"I did," Sean said, his hand touching the tattoo that had hummed cool and steady for the last hour. "But I still needed to hear the words. Emma's alive!"

"Emma's alive?" Manny asked as she entered the room. She'd heard the phone from the basement but it had taken her a few minutes to process what the ringing could mean.

"Yes, she is." Spike replied as she came down the stairs. "She's going to be home soon!"

Manny let out a laugh of relief as tears started streaming down her face. "I should have known. Nothing ever keeps Emma Nelson down for long."

"Right," Craig agreed as he moved to put his arm around Manny.

Sean looked around the room. The Nelson's were silently hugging and Craig and Manny were sitting on the sofa quietly talking. Sean was left alone but he didn't feel alone. This was his family and the one person who would complete that family would be home soon. A smile made its way across Sean's face. His Emma would be home soon. His world wasn't quite right but it would be as soon as she walked through those doors.

**I'm sorry this is short but I didn't want to combine this chapter and the chapter together. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. I think you guys are being too nice but I do appreciate the support. **


	11. Chapter 11

Sean waited anxiously at his apartment. He knew he should've gone to the Simpsons tonight but he hoped Emma would understand his reluctance. He had so much to say to her but he didn't want to say it in front of everyone. And he couldn't put on a front and play the perfect boyfriend. Not that he was even sure that Emma would let him. Okay, he was still scared of her rejecting him. If Emma was going to tell him that it was over then he'd rather it not occur in front of family and friends. Sean wasn't too keen on breaking down and bawling down like a baby in front of everyone, he'd done it once and that was enough.

He looked at his watch, 11 p.m. Manny had called four hours ago with the news that Emma was home and currently being hugged to death by her brothers. Sean made her promise to tell Emma that he was waiting to see her at his apartment when she was ready. So now he was just waiting.

A knock sounded at his door. Sean hestitated a moment before crossing the room and opening it.

"Sean," Emma said with a smile.

"Emma," Sean said, taking her in. His Emma was finally standing before him. And it was at that moment that he forgot how to speak. The relief of finally seeing her overwhelmed him. Tears started pouring down his cheeks. All he could do was pull Emma inside the apartment and hug her with all the love in his heart.

"Is it really you?" Sean whispered, finally managing to find his voice.

"It's really me," Emma replied, her own tears making her voice rough. "I've missed you so much."

"I'm sorry, for everything."

"You don't have to be sorry."

"But I do," Sean said, pulling back from Emma so that he could look her in the eyes.

"I understand why you were angry."

"But that doesn't excuse my behavior. I acted like a jerk. I didn't even come to say goodbye to you at the airport. I was just scared of losing you so I pushed you away."

"It's something we're going to have to work on together because we're in this relationship together, right? You do still love me, don't you?"

"I'm sorry I made you doubt that. I love you so much." Sean said before he leaned into give Emma a kiss that had a year's worth of built-up passion.

Emma broke away from the kiss reluctantly. "I think I know where this is going and I can't yet. I want to, but I'm not fully healed."

Sean took a deep breath. "I've waited a year, I can wait a little while longer, but just a little," he said with a happy grin.

"I was still kind of hoping I could stay here tonight, with you."

"Won't your mom be angry?"

"She's just going to have to get used to it because I plan on being over here a lot. Like, every day, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, I think I can handle that," Sean said as he pulled Emma back in for another kiss.

Sean slept soundly that night. Having Emma in his arms again gave him the most restful sleep he'd had in a year.

The next morning he found Emma in the kitchen making breakfast. The sight of her in one of his t-shirts and a pair of socks was something Sean wanted to see every day. "Let's get married."

"What?" Emma asked, the question halting her egg-beating.

"Okay, I screwed that up. It's just I saw you here and it made me happy and I want to see it all the time. I know this is an impulsive proposal but the thought behind it isn't. Wait here." Sean ran back to his bedroom and grabbed the ring that he'd hidden in a shoe.

"See," he said, showing her the ring box. "There's an engagement ring in here. I bought it after I got your last letter. I love you and I want to be with you forever. I'm sorry this is so crappy," Sean said in defeat as he looked at Emma's surprised expression.

"It's not crappy," Emma said, setting down the eggs she was beating. "It's really sweet. If you'd gotten down on one knee and started spouting about how much you love me then that would have been crappy. It's not a perfect proposal but it's from you and it's from your heart. So yes, I'll marry you."

"You will?"

"Yes, I will." Emma said as the reality of the situation sunk in and a smile broke out across her face.

"I love you," Sean said, grabbing Emma and kissing her.

"I love you, too."

Sean''s tattoo was cool on his skin as he continued to kiss Emma. Everything was finally right in his world. He and Emma were going to have a future together. Things wouldn't always be easy but he was never going to lose faith that they would get through whatever life threw at them.

**It's finally over. I'm actually not too fond of the ending but I've been writing it in my head for days and nothing has seemed right. I probably should have ended this once they found out Emma was alive. Oh well, my apologies for a not-so-great ending. Thanks to everyone for reading.**


End file.
